The Eastern Michigan women’s volleyball team defeated the Kent State Golden Flashes, 3-2 on the road in overtime. The Eagles scored two goals in the first half before scoring the game-winning goal three minutes into the overtime period. Sabrina McNeill scored the first and third goals for the Eagles in the win.
Eastern Michigan earned the first goal of the game as McNeill found the back of the net in the 13th minute. It was McNeill’s eighth goal of the season. The Golden Flashes would respond quickly, though, scoring the equalizer eight minutes later. Vital Kats scored for Kent State, which was assisted by Cameron Shedenhelm.
Nearing the end of the first half, Eastern Michigan jumped back into the lead as Kylie Frantz scored her second goal of the year. Frtantz’s goal gave the Eagles their second lead of the game. The scoring opportunity was created by Peyton Davis, who was credited with an assist on the play. EMU took a 2-1 lead into halftime.
Neither team scored for the first 39 minutes of the second half until Kent State broke the drought, tying the game once again. This time it was because of a penalty kick. Vits knocked the penalty home and tied the match at 2-2. That was Vits’ seventh goal of the season. The teams remained tied as regulation ended.
Just three minutes into overtime, McNeill gave the Eagles another lead, which they would keep for the remainder of the night. The score came off a corner kick which was taken by Nicole Remedios. Kent State tried to find a third equalizer but they were unable to do so and the Eagles won their fourth game of the season.
McNeill finished as the hero for the Eagles as she had three total shots, all of which were shots-on-goal, and she connected for two goals. Frantz had a goal as well. Davis finished with one assist and one shot-on-goal. Alia Frederick also chipped in with one assist in Eastern Michigan’s victory.
Although Kent State was the aggressor for most of the night, totaling 22 shots compared to just 10 for the Eagles, they weren’t able to match the efficiency of Eastern Michigan. EMU had 60% shot accuracy, while Kent State shot 40.9%. The Eagles defense was better, blocking four more saves than the Golden Flashes.
The Eagles now have a 3-4 record in conference as they improve their road record to 2-7-1. Eastern Michigan is now 3-2 in their last five matches even though they’ve been outscored by their opponents 13-11 in those five games. The three victories have been versus Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and Kent State.
The Echo reached out to EMU media relations but no one was made available for comment.
Eastern Michigan’s next game will be against the Ohio University Bobcats on the road in Athens, Ohio. The game will kick off at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20. The next two matches after that will be against Akron on Oct. 24 and Buffalo on Oct. 27. Both games will be at home at Scicluna Field.
